Asharoken Beach Wedding in Northport, NY

Apollo Fields | Long Island Wedding Photographer | Beach Weddings on Long Island | Backyard Wedding Photographer | Northport Wedding Photographers | Northport, NY

Jackie & Eric

“The best-laid plans o’ mice and men often go awry” was the line that Kevin, Eric’s best man, decided to begin and finish his speech with. It made me remember the public speaking course I took in college and how effective using a quote is in anchoring the message of your speech on both ends. If I had any advice for the best men and maids-of-honor out there--this is it. Speak from the heart, keep it short and sweet, and begin and end on the same quote.

Jackie and Eric held their ceremony Our Lady Queen of Martyr’s on a beautifully bright indian summer day in September. Centerport Harbor glistened with the sparkle that guests love and photographers have to work around. Their officiant, Deacon Doug, was as affable as he was devout--weaving in biblical references into Jackie and Eric’s stories almost as much as he mentioned the New York Mets. In a symbol of union, Jackie and Eric poured soil from each of their homes into a potted plant, a unique ceremony idea I’ve never seen before. I loved it. Do anything you can in your ceremony to represent who you are.

From there they took the party to a private residence on the beach on Asharoken Avenue in Northport, NY. The reception began underneath a tent in front of the house but gradually moved to the beach as the sun began to set. Eric and Jackie held their first dance in the sand and the levity of the moment is making it hard for me to remember a more memorable first dance. The late summer breeze, the sun setting in the distance, the weight of the world--for the first time in awhile--floated off my shoulders. I can still see the hazy orange sky when I try to picture it.

“Now that we’re here it doesn’t matter what the plan was--I want to face it head on, I want to face it with you,” Kevin continued in his speech. Such a poignant meeting point between a healthy relationship and the demands of planning a wedding during a pandemic. There is no blueprint on how to celebrate your love in a time where gatherings are restricted. There is no certainty to how the next few months will transpire. It is up to the Jackie and Eric’s of the world to decide what is right for them and Kevin hit it on the head.

Marriage is a partnership and the plan is to face it together. “What you’ve endured [during the pandemic] is nothing compared to marriage,” Lou, Jackie’s father joked during his speech. Heather and I like to treat our life like the way we take vacations: implementing a loose structure, hitting the key can’t-miss tourist destinations, but leaving plenty of room for flexibility and adapting to the whims of weather and mood. Jackie and Eric’s wedding definitely had a vacation vibe, the sand between our toes, fully knowing that “the best-laid plans o’ mice and men often go awry.”